Run
by BonesBird
Summary: How is she coping. Vee writes Hotch a letter. - this is AU even in the Twiminal Minds AU… CHARACTER DEATH


**Title: Run  
Author: BonesBird  
Summary: How is she coping. Vee writes Hotch a letter. - this is AU even in the Twiminal Minds AU… [CHARACTER DEATH]  
Characters: Ardeen/Hotch  
Disclaimer: I own nuzzink… not even Vee. I do own this story though.  
Lyrics: Run - Snow Patrol  
Dedication: Granddad, Sophie, Anton and Kaden.  
**

**Yeah. Paige may kill me for this one-shot. But I don't care over-much because when this idea struck me I had to write it.**

* * *

_Light up, light up  
As if you have a choice  
Even if you cannot hear my voice  
I'll be right beside you dear  
Louder, louder  
And we'll run for our lives  
I can hardly speak, I understand  
Why you can't raise your voice to say_

Veronica Ardeen-Hotchner sat down at the small writing desk in what had once been their living room. It still had pictures of him everywhere, she knew she would never take them down, she also knew she would never leave this place. Her hopes of a normal family for the baby she was carrying had evaporated the moment that Hotch had led the team to capture his last unsub. She had just found out she was pregnant, she hadn't gone out in the field that day. Even know she wondered if that changed things.

She lifted the pen and pulled the paper closer to her, as close as she could get to the table with her 8 month bump in the way. She slowly, started the letter,

_My dearest Aaron,_

_I miss you. So much that sometimes it hurts to even breathe without you being laid next to me. I can't help but wonder how this pregnancy would have been different had you been here. Its been rough. But only because I didn't have you here to help._

_Garcia has been incredible. She has been at every meeting, every doctors appointment, she was here for the morning sickness, and the bad back, and swollen feet. Morgan has helped out a lot too. The entire team, for that matter. I know why you loved them all so much, despite your hesitance to show your emotions, I know you loved them, every one of them. _

_It's a good job they know you as well as they do. Morgan realised what you'd done. He didn't know that you didn't have your vest on. Not that it would have mattered. The angle of his shot would have gotten under the vest. The irony is, that if you hadn't been holding you gun he wouldn't have hit you where he did. If you hadn't been holding your gun, you'd still be here._

_I can't even remember the whole week before your funeral. I remember snapshots. I remember screaming and telling JJ she was lying when she said they were trying to revive you, I remember collapsing in the hospital when the doctor told me there was nothing, I remember holding Jack as Jessica explained what had happened. I remember Jack refusing to leave our place. I remember sitting with Emily and Rossi planning your funeral. _

_The first day I remember in full is your funeral. I stood holding Jack. I didn't speak. There were people who'd known you longer. Rossi did the honours. He told everyone that we wouldn't let Jack forget either of his parents. Tell him everyday the you both love him. That you both died heroes. That his mom died saving him, and you died saving others just like him. He cried through the service. He refused to go home with Jessica, we agreed that for as long as he wanted to he should stay with me. At the wake he went to play with his cousins, the team rallied around me, as I'm sure they had around you after Haley's funeral. _

_That night Jack climbed into bed with me, and we both cried ourselves to sleep. I held him as he slept, knowing that in a few months our own child would be here. I woke up to go to the lawyers the next morning. Neither Jessica nor I were surprised to see that you had already sorted out custody arrangements for Jack. I'm so glad you let me keep him. I need him, as a part of you. I need him to be the great big brother I know he will be to our baby. Our baby._

_Right now I'm sat at that hideous writing desk that you loved. I can hear Jack and Henry playing with Garcia and Morgan in the garden. He misses you. More than I do I think. He asks to watch the videos of you and Haley all the time. I'm glad of those videos I shot. Because it means neither of us will forget your voice, and I can play them for the baby, show him or her how amazing their father was._

_I'm retiring from the BAU. I'm due to start as an instructor at the academy when the baby is born. I couldn't stay. But teaching the next generation of agents means I'm still going to be helping catch the bad guy. I don't think my life would have any meaning now if I didn't continue helping catch bad guys._

_I'm sure you're happy that I'll have Garcia around to help me out. I know I'm glad that she's going to be around._

_Aaron. I will miss you ever day of my life. You were my soul mate. You were my husband. You were my best friend. You were the father of my child. You were the person who drove me to be better in every way. _

_I love you_

_Veronica_

She signed the letter. She put it in an envelope, and signed the front of it. She held it in her hand, and placed it in a memory box. They had bought the box when they got married. They were going to save it with family mementos. Its was full of them. But now it was also full of letters, cards and memories of Aaron. Garcia walked into the room and helped Vee stand up.

Together they went outside.

With the help of her friends, she faced the future.

Without him.

Without Aaron.

* * *

**There is one song on my computer that seems to lead to me writing a fic about death (the one I name in this chapter, surprisingly) and it means I always kill a character. I don't know why Run makes me do it. But I wrote both the last chapter of "Stories from Christmas Day" and the whole one-shot "I Miss You" because of it.**

**This chapter is dedicated to my Granddad (4/12/39-20/12/06) whose guidance and lov I miss. I wish he could have seen me as an adult. To my friends Sophie (26/11/86-21/8/07), who was taken so cruelly from us, in a manner that shocked the world. And Anton (29/7/88-19/7/08) who left this world because of an accident, I still have a drink for him every birthday. Also to my godson Kaden (21/3/07-22/3/07) Whom we knew for far too short a time. Also gonna mention my partner, Tom's, grandma here. OK so she was nuts, and convinced I was her daughter, but she was a nice old bird. I don't know her dates.**

**These 5 people will never, ever be forgotten. My granddad had a family who loved him very much. Sophie's story has touched MILLIONS around the world, Anton was such a loving, kind person that the world is truly worse without him, and who knows what Kaden could have gone on to do. I love you all. More than you will ever know.**


End file.
